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After a buzzing MFL Teachmeet on Wednesday 3rd June, I headed home to relieve my babysitter, a friend who is also a teacher. On hearing that I had run a twilight training session, he started to sympathise because, at his school, there was a lot of negativity regarding INSET sessions. He described “death by powerpoint” and irrelevant training sessions, which I had to tell him just don’t happen at Beaumont. It is a real privilege to work in a school where there is such a positive culture surrounding development of teaching and learning. The twilight Teaching and Learning INSET sessions are relaxed and enjoyable, being in a small group format and mixing staff from a variety of departments so that you can get a real range of ideas. Far from the grumbling described by my friend, my Teaching and Learning group was characterised by laughter. It is a shame that too many teachers still experience training where they are simply lectured at, an approach they would never countenance with their own classes, when there is so much more to be gained by having a chance to talk about teaching with as wide a range of colleagues as possible. Let’s hope that the Beaumont T&L model of show and tell sessions, Teachmeets and generating enthusiasm in all sorts of ways will be spread across as many schools as possible, bringing an end to boring INSET.

The idea to run “Beaumont Maths Week” arose after attending the Beaumont Teachmeet last November. I attended Sue Lutz’s seminar on “Raising the profile of your department” and came away feeling inspired. I wanted to do something that would get students thinking about the maths skills they were learning and how they could apply them in other areas, and also wanted to promote enthusiasm and excitement for maths around the school.

We launched Maths week with an assembly where I shared the story of how I was drawn to the subject of maths when I was in school and the aspects of the subject which I found difficult. The idea of doing an assembly was quite a daunting prospect, but I knew that it would create the right kind of buzz about the subject and the activities that were coming up. I booked myself in for an assembly slot before I could overthink the idea and talk myself out of doing it so, although I didn’t sit down to properly plan what I would speak about until February half term, the thought process began months before and I always had a vague idea of what I wanted. I felt nervous before I began but once I started talking the story just came naturally. The high that I felt when I finished (and realised that people liked it) was amazing and it’s something I’m really glad I did.

There were various activities run during “Maths Week”. Because the idea had formed in my mind so early on in the year, I actually had a few months of being able to let ideas float around in my mind and decide what was good and what wasn’t, or what would work better than something else. This meant that when I sat down to actually write the challenges and questions I had a clear idea of what I wanted.

The staff questions were a big hit and I was so pleased with the response from so many different departments – who knew we had so many talented mathematicians? The competitive element obviously made it a bit of fun and I’m already thinking about more difficult questions for next year. It was really great the way staff talked about the quiz with their classes and the students who helped teachers couldn’t wait to come and brag about it to the maths department.

There were house activities for each year group and again, the response from these was amazing. It was great to see so many students working on problems together and to have students come up to me to chat about what they were doing and see the enthusiasm and excitement it had created.

There was the Numeracy based T&L Challenge which staff also got involved in and which really highlighted how numeracy skills can be transferred across subjects.

As the finale, we ran a Maths-themed bake off and cake sale for the 6th form. This was the part I was most worried about as I knew that if there weren’t enough entries we couldn’t then have the cake sale that had been advertised. Believe it or not, I actually had dreams the night before about setting up a shop with nothing to sell, My fears were unfounded however – we had so many entries that looked and tasted amazing and the subsequent cake sale was so popular that it only lasted about ten minutes before we were completely sold out. We raised almost £90 which we donated to the National Numeracy Organisation whose work you can read about here.

For the week to be successful, there was a lot to organise, but with everyone in the lovely Maths Department pitching in, as well as the 6th form Maths Captains, all of the effort was definitely worth it. I was so pleased with the response from staff and students and am already looking forward to next year.

It is fast approaching that time of year which many teachers dread – the report writing season. Before sitting down to write this article, I thought back to my own experience of receiving reports whilst at school. I was relatively hard working and never dreaded what my teachers had written about me, but I do remember often feeling disappointed when reading my reports. In some subject, statement banks were often used and I never felt that the comments really described my performance in that subject and the hard work I had put in. On chatting with friends about their reports, I remember being horrified that we had exactly the same comments, which often left me feeling that the teacher didn’t really know me and that my effort had gone unrecognised. As a teacher I think that this is fundamentally the most important thing when writing a report- it must be personalised to each particular student.

At Beaumont the leadership team and heads of year are tasked with reading whole year groups’ reports, so I thought I would ask them for their top tips on report writing.

Their responses are below. Happy writing.

Paul De Kort (Head of Sixth Form): “Good reports are specific about what the student needs to do to improve whether that be, for example, “expand their explanations”, “take appropriate time with their homework” or “focus in class activities.” They are positive but realistic – “greater X (from student) should allow her access to a higher grade by the end of the year.” They should be aware of the passage of time ie refer to things that need to/will happen after the report is published.”

Laura Hawkins (Assistant Head): “You need a real sense that the teacher knows the student. Honesty – don’t fear the L (less than expected). Excellent should only be reserved for those that are truly excellent. Useful advice on how to improve, as well as lots of praise when deserved.”

Elena Dundjerovic (Head of Year 9): “Try to focus on their skills and the progress that they have made and give them a target.”

Liz Hitch (Headteacher): “Make sure you do not write them too specifically in ‘real time’ – it takes at least 2 weeks for a report to go out once written, so don’t refer to things coming up within a short time period. It is better to write less than waffle when you don’t know the student too well (eg in year 7).”

Danny Sievewright (Head of Year 11): “I would suggest, where appropriate, a balance of positive and areas for improvement. Also making ensure that the comment matches up with the effort grades for that student. For an end of key stage report, something that encapsulates their overall performance – particularly if the student has made particular improvements across a year. Dare I also suggest using the spellchecker, reading over and checking grammar – from a staff well-being point of view, that is really important as it makes life much easier for those checking them and would cut down the amount of reports that a teacher has to re-do.”

Below is a guidance document which we refer to at Beaumont to try and keep the consistency of writing across the various subjects on a report.

As a Head of Year, I deal with young people outside of the classroom, helping them to manage their personal and educational lives. Through this role, I am fortunate enough to meet a number of parents and have learned an incredible amount, not only about the importance of strong parenting skills, but also about the huge range that exists in this important skill set. So when the opportunity to attend a 6 week course about parenting teenagers came up, I leapt at the opportunity.

At first, I felt a bit of fraud, as I was asked how old my children were. When I responded that they were 7 and 5 years old, I could tell that the other parents thought I was being a bit over zealous. However, once I explained that I was a teacher, this mood seemed to settle.

The content of the course was extremely practical. I learnt ‘how to increase your confidence in your skills and abilities to parent’ and ‘how to help the relationship between you and your teenager be even better than it is now’. The real nitty gritty came later with ‘how to teach skills for helping your teenagers to be more secure emotionally and to raise their self-esteem’ and to ‘identify the best way to effectively discipline your teenager’.

Approaching the end of the course, we were asked to reflect on what we were going to do with what we had learnt, and that’s where I came a bit unstuck. How much of the course should I and would I be able to use with the students that I teach?

One exercise involved choices and consequences. For illustration purposes, let’s say the child is called ‘Bob’.

‘Bob, you have a choice, you can either (insert positive action). Or you can (insert negative action). If you choose (positive action) then (positive outcome). But, if you choose (negative action) then (negative outcome). It’s up to you, it’s your choice’.

Great stuff. One for all trainee teachers to store in their toolbox. Or is it? Can you, as a teacher, afford for a student to pursue the negative action in your class to the detriment of other students? With careful planning, this would be an excellent way to manage a challenging student. I certainly wouldn’t recommend using it ‘off the cuff’ in a lesson.

And I think this is the main point of understanding what our ‘duty of care’ is as teachers towards our students. How do you occupy a parental role with a class of 30? I think that the phrase ‘in loco parentis’ is really being tested in schools today. This is in spite of a move away from it and towards a more preferable (and realistic) phrase – ‘duty of care’. Schools are having to educate pupils more and more about self-harm, e-safety, building self-esteem – is this really part of our remit? We are not social workers, but more and more emotional needs are creeping into schools at an alarming rate. Why is this? The answer does not lie in this post but is certainly a topic of much current debate in the education sector.

‘In seeking to equate the role of the reasonable and caring parent with that of the teacher there are immediately difficulties. Parents do not have 25 or 30 children to control and supervise at any one time.

……Hence teachers who ask “What would a prudent parent do in this situation?” may give themselves a misleading answer. Parental concern derives from natural love and affection for the child. The concern of a teacher derives from a different source.’

Whichever way you look at it, there is one thing that unites parents and teachers – we all want the best for the teenagers in our care. How we manage this is another matter. One hand-out we were given on the course was called ‘Top Tips for Parenting Teenagers’. I have listed the points –

Be a positive role model

Be open

Get to know their friends

Ask them what they think about specific issues

EMPATHY IS YOUR ACE CARD. Look for the feelings behind their behaviour

If this was a test, teachers would score 99%. This is what we are trained to do. And I think that’s why I found it tricky to identify what I could use in school because so much of it is done already. Being a positive role model and being open are absolutely fundamental skills for a successful teacher. You have to lead by example and demonstrate the qualities that you are looking for in your students. At the beginning of each year, I always tell my students ‘whatever I expect of you, you can expect of me’. Students know where we all stand and we can all hold each other accountable. Getting to know their friends is a gift for a teacher. It’s not a skill. You don’t have a choice in the matter and boy, does it make it a difference in understanding students’ behaviour. Finally, ask them what they think about specific issues. That’s our job. It doesn’t work unless we do. Empathy is your ace card – this is the fundamental issue. Looking for feelings behind our students’ behaviour should be a high priority of all teachers in my opinion, but do we dedicate enough time to do it? I am in a fortunate position as a Head of Year to gain a more detailed insight into the lives of my year group. We cannot escape the fact that ‘students bring their lives into the classroom; they do not leave their problems and feelings at the door’ (www.empathyed.org). Do we train teachers in this skill enough? Empathy might just be the missing 1% to help teachers ace the ‘top tips’ test.

A group of Beaumont staff met together on Fri 13th March for a tasty lunch and a discussion about pupil presentation. We started by trying to guess/work out the national curriculum level for the national curriculum level descriptions for writing (English KS2 NC). We talked about the expectations on punctuation, grammar and spellings as well as the element on presentation.

Sarah Lofthouse then presented findings from a student questionnaire (see this questionnaire and the PowerPoint which includes graphical data). We looked at the reasons students give about whether presentation is important or not. Most students agree that presentation gives a good impression and is useful to them in terms of having clear notes to revise from.

We looked at two statements from our OFSTED report (March 2014) and thought about how important presentation may (or may not) be and what gender differences there are. We could see that student presentation at our school is generally good but there is a definite slip in presentation from boys from KS3 into KS4 (from data collected from over 100 students).

We brainstormed ideas about the ways we, as classroom teachers, could help students improve their presentation. The ideas which arose are on the last two slides of the powerpoint.

I am a much happier soul when I am working with others. Sharing my thoughts and listening to the much better ideas other people have. At the right time it can be an unbelievably useful teaching strategy but group work still scares people. Do not be afraid – get involved.

Group work can be the most rewarding yet stressful of activities for teachers and students alike. Teachers can worry about classroom management and the activity being ‘worth it’. Students can be concerned about who they will work with and what they will be asked to do. As a Drama teacher this is my bread and butter, the most essential part of my planning to ensure the best outcomes for my students. Over the years I have observed a lot of lessons in all subject areas and developed my own practice so that I do the right thing at the right time. So here are a few of my top tips for group work.

Until you are confident that you know and understand the class do not let them choose who they work with. You can destroy the self-esteem of the student who is left out.

Decide what you want out of the task and then select the groups so that you get the outcome you want.

Allocate roles and expect every child to play an active part in the group task.

Use different methods to put students into groups so that it is interesting – jigsaws, lolly sticks, birthdays, numbers, ability, gender.

Think about it and don’t leave it to the last minute to make your decisions.

This is what other Beaumont staff have to say:

Ed Panting (PE): “I try to use coaches / experts to lead small groups for reinforcement of basic skills. For example working in groups of 4-6 I might use a basketball team player to ‘coach/teach’ the rest of the group to lay the ball up, that team then goes into game play against the other groups. The team stay together for the activity unit so the leader has time to develop his team. By adding in the competitive element I find the leaders really invest in their team because the better they teach them the more likely they are to win in the games. Everyone benefits; bottom end get more direct feedback and coaching than if it just came from one source so tend to make better progress; top end are reinforcing and enriching their knowledge by delivering the information in a way that less able pupils can access. It also develops skills for success and general social skills.”

Susan Kent (Geography): “Give them a large piece of sugar paper to make notes on during their discussion, and a different coloured pen each to ensure everyone takes part by the end of the discussion the sugar paper must have every colour pen on it. If possible have your seating plan arranged in a way that means group working is easy ie. four in the same row/behind in front of each other which means mixed ability/boy & girl mix is easy to do.”

Liz Cleverley (PSHE and Maths): “Make it clear if there are defined roles so the group can use the strengths of individuals. Use a visual countdown timer – if they get lost in a task they can lose track of time. Mix the genders and also SEND and gifted students.”

The Hosegood family are not very interesting people. We are all Geographers and we are either teachers or town planners (my sister was the rebel!), so dinner table conversations are a little bit dull for outsiders. However these dinner table conversations have given me one of the best pieces of behaviour management advice.

My mum always said the most valuable thing a teacher has at their disposal is their voice. As a trainee teacher I don’t think my voice was always under control but as I have gained more experience my voice has become more powerful.

My (and my mum’s!) top tips:

When using your voice, always give yourself somewhere to go. This means that you can’t shout all the time. Shouting should be an extreme of your voice and should happen very rarely. This means that when you do shout you have the desired effect.

Once you have the attention of the students keep your voice low so you keep their attention and they have to listen carefully.

Even if you are tired and having a bad day your voice can disguise this so go up tempo and bright in your voice and ‘trick’ the students into enthusiasm.

Always welcome your students into the classroom with a bright, enthusiastic, cheery voice and it will start the lesson in a positive mood.

When you want to get your point across, repeat the point slowly in a deeper tone to your normal voice.

Your voice is only one aspect of behaviour management and other teacher hints and tips below offer you some key ideas.

Lucy Sidney; “If a class are too chatty (during a discussion or at beginning of the lesson) I ask them all to stand up. They are not allowed to sit down until they are all silent. If they start talking whilst descending they must stand up again! They soon learn that being quiet is better than standing up.”

Zoe Shepherd; “Only ever pretend to lose your temper. Don’t actually lose it. Know your kids and remember they have stuff going on in their lives that may affect their behaviour. Own your space/ classroom you are inviting students into your class to share and learn with you – be confident.”

Helen Wilson; “Wait for pupils to be displaying the behaviour you want and then praise it with thanks. Develop a “waiting stare” which says, “we are not moving on until I’ve got the behaviour I expect”.”

Beth Ashton; “With a difficult group, have a clear, visual way to keep track of where students are in terms of the behaviour diamond. I usually write “warning, move, detention, on call” so they can see what the next consequence will be.”

Michael Tatham; “Praise all those who are doing what you do want (the others will eventually get the hint that they need to do or change something!).For example, ‘Well done Tom’s table, you’re books are out and you’re all ready to start’. Or, ‘Thanks Bethany, you’re looking this way and listening.’”

Jo Cavanagh; “Establish routines early on in terms of your expectations e.g. stand behind their chair in silence when they first come in.”

Nat Moody; “If you are taking a new group learn names as soon as possible. Set routines as early as you can. Do not allow them to speak when you are.”

Jane Pearson; “Keep the pace by using music as a timer when you want minor things done quickly and efficiently eg packing away, handing in textbooks, writing down the date and title.”

Sue Lutz; “Timing activities using a stopwatch keeps them on task.”

Susan Kent; “If an individual child is off task just approach their desk quietly kneel down so you are at their eye level and explain that they have a choice – they can get back on task in the next 30 seconds and show you how awesome they can be or they will be moved to the back of the classroom to work alone/sent outside. Their choice. Give them 30 seconds and go back and ask them.”